Gone
by Anakin T Skywalker
Summary: One moment, he was sleeping peacefully. Then, just like that, he was gone.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. But you should know that already.**

There may someday be more to this. Maybe.

I love reviews! Lots of them would be great – just no swearing, please.

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Obi-wan awoke in the middle of the night knowing something was wrong. "Anakin!" he whispered into the darkness. He sprang from the bed, dashed through the small sitting area that separated his bedroom from his Padawan's, and flung open the boy's door.

The room was still and dark and quiet. Yet he had felt Anakin's distress, and then pain! What was going on?

His sleep-muddled brain puzzled through it for a minute. Finally he decided the boy must have had another nightmare, but it had passed and he now slept peacefully.

But Obi-wan just couldn't shake that Force-given feeling that something was wrong.

It was then that he noticed by the tiny amount of light from the small window that Anakin was not in his bed.

With a sense of dread, Obi-wan switched on the light.

Anakin lay on the floor next to his bed, his blankets dangling from the edge in a twisted rope after him. Obi-wan breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that the twelve-year-old had simply been sleeping rather energetically and tumbled out of bed. He was rather surprised that the impact of hitting the floor had not wakened the boy, but then, Anakin sometimes slept quite heavily, especially during a bad dream or after learning a particularly difficult new skill. Or if he had been sneaking out to raid Coruscant junk piles. Obi-wan smiled a little, recalling some of the more drastic measures he had been forced to take in order to rouse his apprentice in the morning. For instance, there was the time that even the glass of water to the face failed and Obi-wan had been forced to adopt the ice cube method!

As he bent to lift the boy back into bed, his relief and amusement quickly transformed back into alarm; the carpet where Anakin's head had lain displayed a large red stain. Turning the boy over gently, Obi-wan easily spotted the site of the wound; his Padawan's hair was wet with blood in a spot dangerously near his right temple. More blood trickled down the side of his face even as Obi-wan watched. He hurriedly but gently scooped the boy up in his arms. As an afterthought, he glanced about the room for something to slow the blood flow with. Finding nothing better, he grabbed a handful of tissues from the nightstand, and, not wanting to cause any more damage by applying pressure, simply laid them over the wound. He rushed out into the hall, carrying Anakin.

Then he rushed back, realizing that most of the healers would be asleep at this hour. He set Anakin down as quickly as he could without jarring him and scrambled for his comlink. He was answered by a Healer who, while sounding alert, had certainly been awakened.

"Anakin's hurt," said Obi-wan breathlessly. "He took a blow to the head and it's bleeding rather heavily; also, he seems to be unconscious. I'm not sure what happened"—

"All right, Obi-wan, bring him to the infirmary and we'll take care of him. You can tell me how it happened later." All of the Healers had already come to know both Anakin and Obi-wan on a first-name basis.

Obi-wan lifted the boy again, grabbed another fistful of tissues, and ran with him toward the infirmary, cushioning each step with the Force to keep from injuring him any further.

Just before he reached the doors that led to the infirmary, Anakin opened his eyes and blinked slowly. He looked confused, and couldn't seem to focus – not a good sign.

"My head hurts," he said, sounding puzzled and sleepy. "Why are you carrying me? Oh, Master, you're bleeding! Your shirt's covered in blood! You should go see a Healer or get a bandage or something," he finished uncertainly.

Obi-wan pushed through the doors into the brightly lighted waiting room. "We're going to the infirmary right now, but not for me. You're the one who's injured; you hit your head on something."

"You mean… all this blood… is mine?"

Anakin's face turned deathly pale. "Uhhh… s-suddenly I feel really s-sick…" he said shakily.

Obi-wan rushed him over to the refresher and held him near the toilet. He sat up in his master's arms, then leaned over and vomited. When he was finished, he collapsed back against Obi-wan, blood still streaming down his face. "Ow," he said faintly as the Healer took a clean tissue and wiped his lips for him. Then he passed out again.

Obi-wan carried him over to an examination table and laid him out on it.

"Lay him on the side that's not hurt; you shouldn't leave him on his back in case he's sick again," instructed the Healer. She washed her hands and hurried over with some instruments. She quickly checked Anakin's vital signs, then lightly bandaged his head.

"I'm not sure, but I think he may have been thrashing around in bed, fallen out, and hit his head on his nightstand," explained Obi-wan.

"Hmmm. Yes, that makes sense. It's difficult to tell for sure without being able to see his eyes, but I think he may have a mild concussion. Most likely caused by, as you say, trashing around a bit too enthusiastically, hitting the sharp corner not far from his temple, and then banging his head again on the floor. It's a good thing he didn't hit it directly on the temple; that could have been trouble. But I think he'll be all right. A minor concussion coupled with the shock of so much blood loss could easily account for his present condition. I'm just going to bandage his head more thoroughly, and then we'll keep him here until he wakes up or shows some other sign of change."

Obi-wan watched as she dressed Anakin's wound again and secured the bandage. His sleeping tunic was stained with blood, so they removed it and changed him into a hospital-issue version. Then, together, they moved him to a cot and covered him with a light blanket, and Obi-wan sat down in a chair by his side. The Healer moved about the room, cleaning her instruments and putting them away, and picking up blood-soaked tissues from the floor. Obi-wan, however, did not take his eyes off Anakin's pale face.

After some hours had passed, the Healer addressed him. "Obi-wan, he's probably just asleep now. It's quite natural that he should be worn out by such a traumatic disturbance of his sleep. And you don't look so great yourself. You brought him in here around two in the morning, and it's now nearly six. You must be exhausted, especially after carrying him all the way here. And those bloodstains in your tunic will probably never come out."

Obi-wan looked down at himself. A huge patch of reddish brown decorated the left side of his shirt.

"Why don't you go back to your room and get some rest?" the Healer continued. "I can take care of this one here, and you need your sleep, too, if you're going to be master to a child who gets concussions while sleeping!" she teased.

But Obi-wan refused to budge, even though he _was_ tired. "I should be here when he wakes up," he stated, suppressing a yawn.

The Healer chuckled at him. "Come on, Obi-wan, at least go out into the hall and pick up the trail of bloody tissues that you doubtless left before someone sees them – if they haven't already. And you might want to get a maintenance droid working on the stain that's probably on Anakin's carpet. Am I right?"

Obi-wan sighed. "All right, you obviously don't want me here, so I'll go. But I _will_ be back. And if anything changes, please let me know." He gave her his comlink frequency, then left to go clean up.

He did find a few tissues in the hall, and he got a maintenance droid for the stain, as the Healer had suggested, although he knew it was probably already hopeless. While he was at the room, he changed into fresh clothes for the day, and threw his and Anakin's bloodied tunics into the laundry basket. Catching himself in another huge yawn, he was about to walk out again when suddenly it occurred to him: it was one of those rare moments that he had peace and freedom from Anakin's mischief. Why not use it? He walked over to his bed and promptly fell asleep.

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When Obi-wan woke up, it was already early afternoon. He stretched, wondering why he had slept so late – and in his clothes, too! Then he remembered Anakin. He dialed the Healer's frequency on his comlink while pulling his boots on and starting on his way out the door.

"Hello? This is Obi-wan, I'm coming to see Anakin now."

There was silence. Then, "Obi-wan, he's gone."

Obi-wan felt stricken through the heart. Anakin, gone! But the Healer had said it wasn't serious, that he should be alright! He struggled to maintain control of his emotions. "How long ago?" he finally asked huskily.

"Several hours," replied the Healer. Obi-wan thought she sounded a little flippant for someone communicating the death of a Padawan to his master! Certainly, the Jedi discouraged great emotional displays, but this was world-shaking to him! Couldn't she at least show a little respect? And…

"Several hours!" he roared into the comlink. "You promised you would contact me if anything changed! Well, don't you consider this to be a little bit of a change?" Obi-wan's voice was packed with sarcasm, and he was sobbing, unable to restrain his emotions any longer. Such a freakish, little thing, and just like that—

Anakin was gone for good!

"Why, I – I'm sorry… I called you, but you didn't answer your comlink. I figured you were sleeping, but I didn't think it was worth waking you up for. I had no idea this would upset you so much…" the Healer said tentatively, sounding confused.

"Why wouldn't I be upset when my Padawan is dead?!" Obi-wan screamed.

There was complete silence on the comlink. Then, in a slightly scolding, condescending tone,

"Obi-wan Kenobi. Your Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, was just fine when he walked out of here three hours ago."

"Wait," said Obi-wan, his tears stopping for the moment, "He was awake? He walked out of the infirmary?

"Just to make sure, I waked him back to his room. He was a little dizzy by the end, which is to be expected, but he walked the whole way himself. When we got there, I could see he was tired out, so I made him lie down and go back to sleep. I put an extra pillow to protect him from the nightstand, and then I left him. I mean, he didn't hit his head _that_ hard!"

"He's not dead?"

"Not unless something happened to him since I put him back to bed."

"But you said he was gone!"

"I meant that he wasn't in the infirmary and you shouldn't come to visit him there!"

"But"—

"Go look in his room."

Obi-wan crossed the sitting area and peeked into Anakin's room. The boy lay on the bed, sleeping peacefully, breathing deeply. Obi-wa closed the door and ran back into his own room so he would not wake his Padawan with his shout of joy.

"Oh, thank the Force!" he said, bursting out in near-hysterical laughter. "I really thought he was dead! You had me so worried!"

"Yeah? Well, _you_ have me really worried _now,_" said the Healer. "If you keep this up, I will personally come and get you and drag you back here to get _your_ head examined!"

Obi-wan calmed himself a little. "So, how should I care for him?"

"Let him sleep as much as he wants today. Don't make him get up too much until tomorrow; then, have him move around a bit, but don't push him too hard. After that, you can have him up and around, and he can resume his studies, at least for short periods; any time after a week, he can go back to normal activities. Just let him recover at his own pace; it he doesn't feel ready for something, don't make him do it. You can trust him not to intentionally stall his recovery."

"That I can," said Obi-wan. "Thank you so much!" He disconnected the comlink and went back to check on Anakin again. He chuckled softly as he watched the sleeping boy.

_Only you, Anakin,_ he thought._ Only you could possibly injure yourself like this while sleeping._


End file.
